Scottish Executive

Bute House

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in each of the last five years Bute House has been used for events which raised funds for a political party.

Mr Andy Kerr: There have been no events held in Bute House in the last five years to raise funds for a political party.

Cancer

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was available for research into a cure for myeloma in each of the last five years and what future funding will be made available.

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent research and studies it has undertaken regarding the cause of myeloma.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. The CSO is largely a response mode funder and this role is well advertised throughout the health care and academic community. The CSO has not funded any research projects in the recent past into a cure for myeloma and has no future expenditure commitments in this area. However, cancer is a research priority and the CSO would be pleased to consider proposals for research on myeloma which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

Cancer

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that the treatment and management of myeloma after diagnosis is adequate if prevention screening is not undertaken and in light of delays in the diagnosis of myeloma.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are no proven methods of screening for myeloma. The cancer strategy Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change recognises that patients should have clinically effective treatment which is delivered safely. Qualitative assessment of tumour-specific cancer services is underway within some of the multi-disciplinary cancer networks and others are in development.

  Referral guidelines are also in place to help identify those patients requiring urgent investigation to confirm a diagnosis of cancer.

  Cancer in Scotland includes a commitment that by 2005 the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months.

Cancer

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure equity of, and access to, treatment and care for myeloma throughout Scotland, particularly in relation to new drugs and techniques.

Malcolm Chisholm: The tumour specific multidisciplinary cancer networks aim to ensure that the best possible quality of care is provided equitably across a geographical area.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS), is responsible for providing evidence-based advice to NHSScotland on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new and existing health technologies (medicines, devices, clinical procedures and healthcare settings). The responsibility for the implementation of NHS QIS advice lies with NHS boards who should take account of the advice and ensure that recommended treatments are made available to meet clinical need.

Cancer

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent research has been undertaken to assess the epidemiology and incidence of myeloma in Scotland and, if such research has been undertaken, what percentage of myeloma patients are (a) men and (b) women; how many people were diagnosed with (a) myeloma and (b) multiple myeloma in (i) 1975, (ii) 1980, (iii) 1985, (iv) 1990, (v) 1995, (vi) 2000 and (vii) 2001; what percentage of myeloma patients are under (a) 30, (b) 40 and (c) 50, and in what areas there are clusters of myeloma patients.

Malcolm Chisholm: Data on the incidence of, and mortality from, multiple myeloma and malignant plasma cell neoplasms, broken down by age, sex, year of diagnosis/death, and geographic area are published on the website of NHS National Services Scotland, Information Services (ISD) at:

  www.isdscotland.org.

  Scottish Cancer Registry data indicate that 161 men and 129 women were diagnosed with multiple myeloma in Scotland in the year 2001 (total 290; 56% men, 44% women).

  The terms "myeloma" and "multiple myeloma" are generally regarded as synonymous. Solitary tumours of plasma cells can occur, but much less commonly than multiple myeloma. In the context of the International Classification of Diseases, both conditions come under the general heading of "Multiple myeloma and malignant plasma cell neoplasms".

  The number of persons diagnosed with multiple myeloma in Scotland for selected years were as follows:

  

 Year
 No. 
  of New Cases


 1975
 175


 1980
 262


 1985
 242


 1990
 288


 1995
 323


 2000
 307


 2001
 290



  In 2001, less than 1% of patients with multiple myeloma were aged less than 30 years at diagnosis. Less than 1% were aged less than 40 years. Only 2.1% were aged less than 50 years.

  During the period 1997-2001, the incidence of multiple myeloma and malignant plasma cell neoplasms combined in men did not differ in a statistically significant sense between the 15 Scottish NHS board areas of residence compared to Scotland as a whole. In women, however, compared to Scotland as a whole, incidence was statistically significantly higher in the Grampian and Western Isles Health Board areas, and significantly lower in the Greater Glasgow and Tayside Health Board areas.

Culture

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent to date on recruitment and retention of cultural co-ordinators for schools by (a) it, (b) local authorities and (c) the Scottish Arts Council.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Scottish Arts Council administers and monitors the pilot Cultural Co-ordinators in Schools programme on behalf of the Scottish Executive. A total of £1,654,459, over the period 2002-03 and 2003-04, has been committed to the establishment of Cultural Co-ordinator posts within local authorities. Figures for local authority spending are not held centrally.

Electricity

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish and Southern Energy plc about the ringing of the north of Scotland with an undersea power cable to link producers with urban markets.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an estimate of the cost of an undersea power cable to carry renewable electricity production from the Northern and Western Isles and the mainland to urban markets.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated the cost of an undersea electric transmission cable, rather than a combination of short undersea cable and 400,000 pylon lines, from north-west Scotland to the Scottish border.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Ofgem regarding options for electricity transmission above ground and by undersea cable.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what upgrade will be necessary on the Dounreay to Beauly 275KW power line to carry electricity production from the northern mainland and the Northern Isles to the main Scottish grid from Beauly to the south.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of an undersea cable for electricity produced in Lewis to the Dounreay 275KW power line.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of 400KW pylon lines from Ardmair Bay, Wester Ross, to Beauly and from Beauly to Denny.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of 400KW pylon lines from (a) Denny to the Scottish border and (b) Denny (i) on land to Galloway and (ii) via an undersea cable to Northern Ireland.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish and Southern Energy plc about the possible transmission of offshore wind power generated at the Beatrice platform in the Moray Firth (a) by undersea cable to an appropriate landfall on the Dounreay to Beauly 275KW power line and (b) by undersea cable from Beatrice to Leith or Newcastle.

Lewis Macdonald: The regulation of the electricity transmission network is a reserved matter and the location, size and cost of network upgrades are matters for the owners of the network in conjunction with the regulator, Ofgem. However, we are in regular contact with the UK Government, the regulator and the industry about the upgrades that will be necessary to the electricity network to ensure that Scotland’s renewable resource is fully realised.

Electricity

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what rate per mile the Crown Estate Commissioners would levy on undersea cable transmission to an appropriate landfall.

Lewis Macdonald: The Crown Estate deals with licences for undersea transmission cabling on a case-by-case basis and there is no fixed charge or rate per mile.

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3401 by Mr Andy Kerr on 5 November 2003, how many meetings of the Council of Ministers Scottish ministers have attended since that answer and which specific councils ministers have attended in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of all Council of Ministers meetings.

Mr Andy Kerr: Scottish Executive ministers have attended 10 formal Council of Ministers meetings since the answer to question S2W-3401 on 5 November 2003. Scottish Executive Ministers attended the following specific formal Council meetings during the period 1 July 1999 to 31 May 2004. In future this information will be available on the Scottish Executive website.

  

 Date
 Council
 Minister


 26/10/1999
 Fisheries Council
 John Home Robertson


 22/11/1999
 Fisheries Council
 John Home Robertson


 13/12/1999
 Environment Council
 Sarah Boyack


 14/12/1999
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 16/12/1999
 Fisheries Council
 John Home Robertson


 20/03/2000
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 08/06/2000
 Education Council
 Nicol Stephen


 16/06/2000
 Fisheries Council
 John Home Robertson


 22/06/2000
 Environment Council
 Sarah Boyack


 17/11/2000
 Fisheries Council
 Rhona Brankin


 20/11/2000
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 30/11/2000
 Justice and Home Affairs Council
 Jim Wallace


 14 to 15/12/2000
 Fisheries Council
 Rhona Brankin


 12/02/2001
 Education and Youth Council
 Nicol Stephen


 26/02/2001
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 08/03/2001
 Environment Council
 Sam Galbraith


 24/04/2001
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 25/04/2001
 Fisheries Council
 Rhona Brankin


 05/06/2001
 Health Council
 Susan Deacon


 18/06/2001
 Fisheries Council
 Rhona Brankin


 28/06/2001
 Transport Council
 Sarah Boyack


 16/11/2001
 Justice and Home Affairs Council
 Jim Wallace


 20/11/2001
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 17 to 18/12/2001
 Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 22 to 24/04/2002
 Agriculture Council
 Ross Finnie


 11 to 12/06/2002
 Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 12 to 14/06/2002
 Justice and Home Affairs Council
 Jim Wallace


 23 to 24/09/2002
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 14 to 15/10/2002
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 17/10/2002
 Environment Council
 Ross Finnie


 11/11/2002
 Education, Youth and Culture Council
 Elaine Murray


 26/11/2002
 Competitiveness Council
 Iain Gray


 27 to 29/11/2002
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 16 to 20/12/2002
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 27 to 28/01/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 20/02/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 17 to 18/03/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 07 to 08/04/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 11 to 12/06/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 13/06/2003
 Environment Council
 Ross Finnie


 27/10/2003
 Environment Council
 Ross Finnie


 10/11/2003
 Competitiveness Council
 Andy Kerr


 17 to 18/11/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 24/11/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 24 to 25/11/2003
 Education, Youth and Culture Council
 Peter Peacock


 27/11/2003
 Competitiveness Council
 Jim Wallace


 16 to 19/12/2003
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie


 22/03/2004
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Allan Wilson


 30/03/2004
 Justice and Home Affairs Council
 Cathy Jamieson


 26/04/2004
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Allan Wilson


 24/05/2004
 Agriculture and Fisheries Council
 Ross Finnie



  The following table gives the percentage of all formal Council meetings attended by Scottish Executive ministers, for the period 1 July 1999 to 31 May 2004, by Calendar year:

  

 Period
 Percentage 
  of All Formal Councils Attended by Ministers


 July to December 1999
 11.9


 2000
 8.8


 2001
 12.4


 2002
 12.3


 2003
 17.3


 January to May 2004
 14.8



  It should be noted that Scotland is represented at all Council of Ministers meetings as part of the United Kingdom.

European Union

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S2W-7721 by Mr Andy Kerr on 5 May 2004, whether it was consulted by the Electoral Commission before the announcement on the referendum was made.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive was not consulted by the Electoral Commission before the Prime Minister announced that a referendum would be held on the European Constitution. The Electoral Commission will be responsible for approving detailed arrangements for the referendum in due course.

Freight

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to introduce a maritime equivalent of the rail company revenue support grant as part of its multimodal policies for removing freight from roads.

Nicol Stephen: We will not be introducing an exact maritime equivalent of the Company Neutral Revenue Support Grant scheme although we will be introducing the Waterborne Freight Grant scheme later in the year. This revenue grant scheme will be aimed at encouraging the development of new water freight routes which take lorries off roads by assisting with operating costs during the first three years of operation. This will be open to all freight traffic which is switching from road to water including inter-modal units.

Freight

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring procedures are in place to assess whether freight facilities grants succeed in moving freight from delivery by road.

Nicol Stephen: All freight facilities grant funded projects are monitored on an annual basis. This involves companies operating grant aided facilities providing details of all freight carried each year. This data is then cross-checked against the records of third parties such as rail freight operating companies and navigation authorities.

Further and Higher Education

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce barriers to accessing further and higher education (FE and HE).

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive is committed to ensuring that everyone has the chance to learn regardless of their background or current personal circumstances.

  In support of our policy of widening participation in further and higher education, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council have put in place a range of measures designed to maximise participation. These include, help with fees for part-time students, child care funding, extra funding to colleges and higher education institutions to support students with learning difficulties or disabilities, extra funding for further education colleges who operate in remote or island areas of Scotland and a social inclusion premium to help colleges and higher education institutions attract and retain students from the most disadvantaged areas.

  In addition the Scottish Executive in 2000 introduced free tuition for eligible Scottish domiciled students studying in Scotland and since 2001-02 have provided bursaries to young students from low income families to reduce the amount of debt they accrue during their studies.

  Information on the full range of wider access grants can be found in the respective main grant letters to the HE and FE sectors. These are available at:

  http://www.sfefc.ac.uk/library/fe1604 and http://www.shefc.ac.uk/library/he1004.

  The councils are undertaking a root and branch review of widening access to both further and higher education which will report by the end of the year. This is being chaired by Professor Jim McGoldrick, a member of SHEFC. This group has membership from the HE sector, the FE sector, the NUS, Scottish Enterprise, and a local authority director of education.

Further and Higher Education

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce drop-out rates in further and higher education.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive recognises the need to see further improvements in levels of retention in further and higher education institutions. Scotland’s retention rates for higher education compare well with other countries, with a completion rate of 83% compared to the OECD average of 77%. In relation to further education, the overall retention rate is 85%.

  The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council currently monitors access and retention strategies through consideration of institutions’ strategic plans and reports on progress through a circular letter. It also discusses progress with higher education institutions through a programme of institutional visits. Both Further and Higher Education Funding Councils also monitor the annual performance figures on retention rates for colleges and higher education institutes and actively engage with institutions which appear to be underperforming in this area.

  The Executive is also active in developing better collaboration between schools, colleges, Scottish Enterprise and careers guidance with a view to reducing the possibility of learners entering colleges and universities with misplaced aspirations.

  The Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council recognise the additional cost of teaching students from non-traditional backgrounds and provide additional funding to support retention and completion from these groups.

Hospitals

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8592 by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 June 2004, what range of decisions the minister can take in relation to the proposals for closure of the Queen Mother’s Hospital and what factors the minister is required to take into account in arriving at a decision.

Malcolm Chisholm: As I said in my earlier reply the reconfiguration proposals from NHS Greater Glasgow are subject to my approval. In coming to a view I will need to consider the adequacy of the public consultation and the substantive proposals – in particular the consistency of the proposed reorganisation with national policy on the organisation of maternity services.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of its budget was spent on non-departmental public bodies in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04.

Mr Andy Kerr: The table below shows the percentage of the Scottish budget that was spent by non-departmental public bodies in the years 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04.

  


 

1999-2000
(£ Million)

2000-01
(£ Million)

2001-02
(£ Million)

2002-03
(£ Million)

2003-042
(£ Million)



Scottish Budget1

15,895

17,993

19,890

20,972

22,764



NDPB Allocation

209

223

259

290

346



% of Total Budget

1.31

1.24

1.30

1.38

1.52



  Notes:

  1. The figures for the Scottish budget were taken from Serving Scotland’s Needs 1999 (for 1999-2000) and from the Draft Budget 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 (for the remaining years).

  2. The figures for 2003-04 are prepared on a full resource accounting basis and include provision for capital charges.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have breached non-parole licences in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The National Objectives and Standards for Social Work Services require supervising officers to investigate and take appropriate action in respect of any apparent failure on the part of a released prisoner to comply with licence conditions. Information about issues dealt with at a local level is not available centrally. Where non-compliance constitutes a risk to public safety, the supervising officer must report the matter to the Justice Department. The Justice Department can refer these cases to the Parole Board to consider possible grounds for recall. The number of non-parole licence cases of failure to comply with licence conditions referred and the number of those that were recalled in each of the last five years is as follows:

  


Year

Total 
  Cases Referred

Total 
  Cases Recalled



1999

156

140



2000

168

124



2001

204

149



2002

191

145



2003

206

158

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have absconded from (a) HM Prison Castle Huntly and (b) HM Prison Noranside in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Information on prisoner absconds is published in SPS Annual Reports, copies of which are available in Scottish Parliaments Information Centre (Bib. numbers 4045; 7929; 18239; 22587; 28640) and are also available on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk.

Renewable Energy

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7684 by Nicol Stephen on 7 May 2004, what the reasons are for the data not being held centrally; what information it has on which countries Scotland imports fuel from, and how much is imported from each such country.

Nicol Stephen: The control of imports is a reserved matter. The Executive does not hold data on these matters.

Roads

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received European funding towards the costs of improvements to sections of the A75 and, if so, what percentage of the total costs are covered by such funding.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive received the residue of an award made to The Scottish Office in 1997 from the Trans European Network funds towards the construction costs of the A75 improvement at the Glen west of Dumfries. Construction costs are eligible for 10% funding.

Roads

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its recommended funding levels for roads maintenance have been, broken down by local authority, in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive does not recommend funding levels for local roads maintenance, it provides local authorities with Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocations. GAEs allocations are not funding as such. They form part of a more complex formula used to calculate a single Revenue Support Grant figure for each local authority which covers all grant-aided local authority services. It is for each local authority to decide on its spending on individual services based on local needs and priorities.

  Trunk road maintenance funding levels are shown in tables 11.1 and 11.2 of Scottish Transport Statistics, No 22, 2003 Edition, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29044). Table 11.1 shows expenditure for all Scotland and table 11.2 shows expenditure by Operating Company. Expenditure is not allocated or gathered by local authority area.

Roads

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will implement the findings of the A9 Dunblane to Perth Junction Strategy Study.

Nicol Stephen: The findings of the A9 Dunblane to Perth Junction Strategy Study will generally be implemented through a series of works packages procured by BEAR Scotland Ltd. However, as with similar trunk road improvements, all proposals will be subject to the availability of funding and other competing priorities on the network.

Roads

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how "short term" is defined in relation to the A9 Dunblane to Perth Junction Strategy Study.

Nicol Stephen: "Short term" is defined as one to three years in paragraph 3.1 of the summary of the recommendations contained in the A9 Dunblane to Perth Junction Strategy Study , which was placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre on 26 May 2004 (Bib. number 32605). However, as with similar trunk road improvements, any proposals would be subject to the availability of funding and other competing priorities on the network.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the operating costs of its Brussels office have been in each year since 1999 and what the projected costs are for the current year.

Mr Andy Kerr: The operating costs for the Scottish Executive EU Office since 1999 are the following:

  


Year

Rounded 
  Final Out-Turn



July 1999 to March 2000

£320,000



April 2000 to March 2001

£450,000



April 2001 to March 2002

£450,000



April 2002 to March 2003

£700,000



April 2003 to March 2004

£875,000



  The operating cost for April 2004 to March 2005 is expected to be of a similar order of magnitude to that for April 2003 to March 2004.

Student Finance

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on its plans to commission a Scottish-based student income and expenditure survey.

Mr Jim Wallace: The survey has been commissioned, is currently at the survey design stage and is expected to report by January 2005.

Student Finance

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce student and graduate debt levels.

Mr Jim Wallace: The introduction of the Young Student’s Bursary in 2001-02 will help ensure that young students from low income backgrounds, who are more likely to be discouraged from applying to university because of fear of debt, will have less debt than they would have had under the previous support arrangements.

  A survey of Scottish students’ income and expenditure has been commissioned to provide us with an accurate picture of the financial position of students to inform future policy development.

Young Offenders

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current criteria are for placing a minor in a secure unit and what plans it has to review such criteria.

Cathy Jamieson: Every decision to place a young person in secure accommodation must meet the legislative requirements of S.70 (10) of The Children’s (Scotland) Act 1995.

  The final decision on whether a child should be placed in secure accommodation is made at a local level. Directors of social work are required to take into account the best interests of the child. They must also take into account the children’s hearing’s recommendation and any other factors.

  Secure care is part of a range of services available through the children’s hearings system, which is currently the subject of a wide review aiming to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.